SAN FRANCISCO -- It's Big Game Week. It's the 30th battle for The Axe since The Play. This week for this very special edition of the Bear Republic Podcast, we reach into the Way Back Machine, in more ways than one.

First, we review the California football team's win last week over Washington State. What did the Bears do right? What can they improve on? What can they carry forward to their first-ever October battle against Stanford? We break down the numbers and the X's and O's in our first 25 minutes.

In our second segment, CBS Sports Pac-12 blogger John Breech brings on his father Jim, who spent 12 years with the Cincinnati Bengals after a rookie season with the Oakland Raiders - who picked him up in the eighth round of the NFL Draft. During his career in the NFL, Jim Breech hit 243 of 340 field goal attempts (71.5 percent), hitting 50 percent of his kicks from 40-49 yards. Breech finished his career at Cal with 280 career points - good for third on the all-time scoring list -- and hit 50 field goals -- second only to Doug Brien on the all-time rolls. Breech's 52-yard field goal against the Cardinal on Nov. 20, 1976 was the longest in Big Game history until Tom Schneider hit a 55-yarder in the 2006 Big Game.

Breech was also a teammate of the only man in the history of Cal football to have his number retired -- Joe Roth -- and shares his memories of the quarterback, taken too soon by cancer after his senior season.

In our third segment, we welcome back one of the charter members of the podcast in current ABC Rochester on-air talent Jon Doss, and break down this Saturday's crucial game against No. 20 Stanford and the Cardinal's stout rushing defense, ranked No. 7 in the nation.

We finish with a bit of a recruiting update, including the recent commitment of Corona (Calif.) Centennial defensive end Garrett Hughes. We also address who Mike Montgomery and his staff will pursue in the wake of the commitment of five-star big man Marcus Lee to Kentucky.